Hey there Hoppereenos.
Bouncing by to give you all some clarification on a lot of things going on within the game. Sit tight as I break them all down.
So many different things going on in the game and I am sure it is driving all of us mad. Lol. So I put in a call to EA to get some help. Spoke with a great Rep, Bill. He was very helpful and a pleasure to talk to. Love the reps on the phone. These are the results of our conversation…
UPDATE BUNNY: So I AGAIN called EA and all I can say is this… watch later today or tomorrow for a patch on the date. EVERYONE will know by then the End Date. 🙂
(Can I just say again, I adore the guys on the EA Call line. They are most kind and most helpful. Always fun chatting with them.)
WHEN DOES IT END??!!
Right now there are TWO dates in the game causing confusion of WHEN it will end. No worries. I got clarification on this from EA. Due to all the glitches and players shut out of game… they DID extend the end date. So if you tap on your Trophy Icon and go to the Personal Prize screen it will say roughly 3 days left (end date Jan 13th). EA knows players need more time, so they extended it 5 more days now making the End of Event January 18th. Giving you all almost an extra week. WOOHOO!!! To see the countdown (still not 100% if the info will change on Personal Prize or not), tap on the ? icon in the top right corner of the Personal Prize Pop Up Screen. It will show you the new countdown with the 5 extra days. See above. 😉
UPDATE BUNNY: As everyone can see now, EA finally pushed a patch on the date, though I am laughing it STILL says 2014. I guess we are traveling back in time now. I still see the 18th for a few things (not visible in the game) however Christmas Bell collection is now noted and listed in the game to stop on the 14th. So overall at least ONE more day to try for your Personal Prizes, which it seems many are getting or have already. So set your sites for the 14th for those Bell Collection items. To see all the extra items for donuts and info now available with the update… see the post HERE.
MISSING DONUTS FROM GIL DEAL
As all of us are aware, there was a MAJOR Glitch during Gil’s Deal and sadly many players paid for but did not receive their donuts. Many of you contacted EA and were told to wait. In talking with the EA rep myself, PLEASE CALL THEM. They want to get this fixed for you. They are needing to do it on a one on one basis now. If you only have the chat option, request the chat rep set up a call for you (it is possible) otherwise keep trying at different times to initiate a call as those reps have MORE access to the games and can help.
To make the process go quicker, have a copy of your donut purchase receipt handy. Usually this is emailed to you from the App Market you went through to make the purchase. Here is an edited copy of mine to give you an idea what one may look like from iTunes. Not the entire thing…but it will let you know what to look for and what they are going to be wanting. Your TSTO account info for the game the purchase was made from will usually be on it.
Once you open a ticket/case # with them, you can go back to the help page and attach the file to the case #. Here are some images to give you an idea of what to look for. Yours may vary depending on your region, so just look for something similar for you. Mine is for U.S.A.
Go to the EA Help site http://help.ea.com/en/ and look for ACCOUNT. Once you tap on it, you will see a drop down of many options. Look for MY CASES and select it.
This will then take you to a screen with all your current cases. Closed, pending, open, etc. Find the one you just made for the Missing Gil Deal Donuts and select it.
You will then see the Case itself. If you scroll down a little bit, you will see the option to ATTACH FILES. Select it and follow the steps to locate a copy image of you receipt of purchase from your app store and attach it directly to your case. (This helps with pretty much ANY issue as they can visually see what is going on.)
Once the EA rep sees the receipt, confirms it, and verifies your TSTO game did NOT get the donuts, they will be able to correct the error for you. Again, this is usually best done with a rep ON THE PHONE, so try as hard as you can to get that option. They have the access needed to get into your game and get the donuts added.
MISSING ZUTROY
For those that STILL have not received Zutroy after completing all the Elf Tunnel 19 Tasks, please first check your Inventory to make sure he is not there. If he is not, then reach out to EA. Same as above, PHONE CALL is best as they are more likely to have the access to put him into the game for you while you are on the line with them.
ELF CANNON HANDSHAKE GLITCH
Several players are having the issue still with the Elf Cannon losing the 3 shots if a Handshake is under the Fuse Icon for the Cannon. Most players state they tap on the Cannon and both the Handshake from a Neighbor as well as the Fuse Icon disappear. Essentially taking away those 3 shots they should have been able to fire. EA rep was not able to recreate this issue and it is being passed on to be looked into further.
If you are having this issue, please reach out to EA BEFORE clearing that handshake and try to get a PHONE CALL rep from EA. This way they can go into your game and tap on the Cannon to see if they run into the same issue. Also, if this has caused you any Bell loss they should be able to help with that as well. Just let them know.
ELF TUNNEL GLITCH
Seeing many readers state that they go to clear the Elf Tunnel but are not getting the 4 Elf payout from it.
Let’s first make something very clear here in case there is any confusion on this. 99% of the time you will NOT see the Elves being released. There is a reason why… they do NOT pop out of the Elf Tunnel. Instead, they actually come crashing down in bottles out of the sky in random spots in your town. The bottles hit the ground, shatter, and the Elves burst out and take off. If you are lucky to catch a glimpse of this, it is quite a cool animation to watch… fast too (this happens when they spawn as well). So don’t be watching the Elf Tunnel for the 4 to pop out as that just won’t happen.
Elves are random, that means they can be anywhere in your town. Even hiding behind buildings and decorations, so they may be there…but you may not see them.
If after all this you still believe you are missing Elves from the Tunnel and not getting the 4, please reach out to EA.
MISSING DONUTS
Every now and then you can get a Random Donut from clearing the Neighbor Handshake from your Elf Tunnel & Cannon. They are rare, so getting one is sweet. Mmmmmmm Donut. Now for some reason when you are lucky enough to get one, it adds to your game… but then… for an odd reason… it just goes away. Whether during a trip to Krustyland or leaving the game and coming back later. (I had this happen in my game too.)
If you run into this, please let EA know right away so you get your pink sprinklies earned. (The are looking into it in the meantime.) Same as above, try a PHONE CALL option.
GENERAL HOSPITAL QUEST STUCK
This is an issue ongoing for a very long time now. They are very well aware of it and continually making changes and trying things to get this to work better. Mainly, it seems players are hitting this part of the Walk throughs and sidetracked. Mostly by an event. So the Character flow is broken and the Characters normally trigger the needed tasks are pulled away for other things. It’s the trying to get back on track that gets it stuck.
We have many options to try to see if you can trigger the General Hospital build. You can see those here.
So if you try everything there and STILL no luck, just as above… reach out for a PHONE CALL to an EA rep to see if they can get you back on track.
Those are the main things we are seeing in the game. Mainly, if you are experiencing an issue try some Basic Troubleshooting to see if that issue will be resolved… and if no luck, Contact EA for further help as they are only ones with ability to go into your game.
For Sideshow You Balloon Pop & Kwik-E-Mart… look here. They are both known and both being worked on.
Let us know if this helped you out. If you had these issues, how was your EA experience? Did you try more than once? As always we are here to help all we can.
~Bunny
At least 3 times I’ve gotten donuts from my cannon handshake and all 3 times they spoofed away , I just figured they weren’t suppose to be there. Is it worth a shot to ask EA to get those back? I’m very happy that they extended the dates, it’s only fair. I got my island earlier this week, but even with the extension I don’t think I’ll be getting all the cannon levels, I’m 2 gears away from level 15, and they aren’t getting my donuts!!
Thanks Bunny for the update. MOST.AWESOME.SITE.EVER.
Don’t worry about upgrading the Cannon. I really see no reasoning for it myself. It is fine at level 10. Not enough Elves to bother to go all the way. Not in the way I look at it anyway. Lol.
As far as donuts, up to you. What is it worth to you to get them?
Upgrading to level 12 gives you one additional bell per elf. So that would be an additional 150+ bells per day.
Assuming you had the available cogs, why should one stay at level 10 instead of upgrading to 12?
Didn’t say not to, just for those that think they HAVE to hit 20 and spend donuts to do it. That’s a waste.
If you have the cogs…do it. If you don’t, don’t waste donuts.
The cogs have NO use other than for upgrading the cannon, so go ahead and use them. Unused cogs will just disappear when the event is over. My cannon is level 14 and will probably be upgraded within the next 24 hours, but I would never spend donuts on this item. With the extension, I might even make it to level 16, or with a lot of luck, level 17. I think the idea of having 20+ levels was more for the “bragging rights” (similar to the character levels in the CoC event) and so that players would always have a higher level to aspire to while the event was going on. Also, while there is no guarantee, and past history is mixed, the elf cannon could come into use next Christmas, and starting at a higher level might be useful.
When you say getting some pink sprinkles are rare, how rare is rare? I’ve been pretty fortunate and have gotten one (or even TWO) aaalmost every other grand visit to my friends. I tried looking around the site for some kind of post detailing how often you’d get a free donut from friends, but I couldn’t find one not tagged along with a level update post… or longer than a paragraph. Oh, and getting one from the cannon is rarer than from the friends visits (I don’t think I ever got one from the tunnel lol).
That all being said, I have been the subject of the missing donut glitch. Two from the cannon and only once from my friends visit (one of the times I actually netted two throughout visiting them all); my grand total is three. =P Would you say that’s a worthy amount to bug EA about? Sure they’re missing and I earned them, but it’s only three.
It is totally up to you what is “worth” your time to get them back. There is no data on the site for the Neighbor donuts as the numbers just don’t matter that much. It all depends on how YOU visit daily. How many friends YOU have. How many the game decides to award YOU. Lol. I have gotten up to 6 in one day. Then there are times I get nothing for days. So it is all chance really.
As for the tunnels. Same thing. Randomly rare.
People want numbers and % but every time we post them a mass argument ensues about them as every players results are different, we have no control of that it is all coded into the game, so they want to argue about numbers and % and over analyze it all. Taking it out on us. So… we will not post them any longer and all info relating to them are gone and will not be placed back. Finding this data is NOT an easy thing for us and in some cases takes us mass amounts of time. So to be argued with and yelled out for our hard work, just not going to bother anymore. I am sure you can understand. 😉
Yes I completely understand having been a moderator for a confessions blog. XD Thanks for telling me, though.
Blimey. People will pick an argument about anything, won’t they? I understand now why you wouldn’t give me a quesstimate a couple of weeks ago.
Some of us really appreciate all the hard work you put in – in fact I’m sure it’s pretty close to everybody. Those odd one or two always try to ruin it for everyone though, don’t they?
😀 Hope you’re having fun!
I had the missing donut issue and even though they told me in early January that the donuts would be put in automatically after they fixed the issue it took a phone call to resolve it. Everyone was nice and I even got a few extra donuts in the end so be nice. One thing is I was told I had to log into my iTunes and take a screen shot of my purchase history to upload the rep said that an email isn’t good enough. Not sure if that’s policy or just that rep’s preference but be forewarned.
They just need some kind of confirmation. Essentially “proof of purchase”. So whatever that may be. Account log, receipt, etc. It is best to have it all handy and just send it right away. Makes the process go quicker. Thanks for sharing your experience as it will help others. 😉
If you’re not getting your purchased donuts using an Android device just contact Google Play via the support link on the payment confirmation email. It’s reasonably straightforward to let them know you have paid but not received your in app purchase. They have refunded me within a few minutes in at least three instances of Tapped Out crashing as I was buying donuts or scratch cards. EA have totally ignored all my emails meanwhile.
Sorry to hear that. Have you tried the call option and the steps I listed here? It took like 10 mins and the donuts were corrected for me.
EA dint call me for days. When they did they put me on hold and they just hung up. I just gave up. Told them to just keep it. Worst costumer service I ever experienced.
I hate when folks run up against the bad CS there. Just like any business, some employees are stellar and others not so much. Up to you if you give up but I always advise the squeaky wheel approach. I’ve had two major issues and had to keep at it all the while informing them of the issues with service. I did finally get resolution and compensation in both cases.
With the lockouts I was thinking there’s no way I’d may it to lvl 20 on the cannon… Iused donuts to get the cannon faster and leveled it up twice and I’m still no where near finishing it… Very disappointed.
When I called ea about the missing Zutroy, they “fixed” it but my two nicorn disappeared… I’m starting to wonder if the ppl that didn’t get him were the ones that have certain items in their inventory…
As a premium player I’m pretty bummed about all this, but I’m sure their are plenty of us that are having troubles…
I stated this once before just wanted to know if anyone else can do this, I have a glitch where my statue of Lisa can be placed “on top” of other items… Cool design trick
When I spoke to EA after Christmas they said doughnuts would be automatically paid out…….not that I was willing to wait I went to google and got my money back.
Great post and really good news about the extension got a chance to win the final prize now.
I noticed that the handshake/fuse glitch only occurs when you open the game and dialogue immediately starts from an event or something. Otherwise, it appears to automatically clear the handshake unless the dialogue preempts it.
Are they aware that Princess Penelope gets stuck in the Krustyland entrance when she greets guest?
I’ve not seen this reported. Mine works the task fine. If you’re having the issue, please alert them.
I got the final prize yesterday and am now working on donuts. But it seems my elf population has severely dwindled to the point where I don’t have enough to fire the canon 3 times. Anyone else seeing this?
The higher level, less you’ll see only because you can shoot more at a time. Still 3/30 mins. So let them build up or shoot it with what you have
I also have a problem with krustyland with the sideshow you game
Did you tap on the link in this post?
Hi bunny et al., I had an unrelated question…have the producers ever discussed/thought about a shelbyville expansion to the game? We have the Krustyland one (which is sort of pointless at this time) and the pier (also not in use), so maybe this could help them continue into the 50’s levels…just a thought. Figured you’d also be more knowledgeable about this than me. 🙂
That’s a completely different side of things. When I get a chance to pick that sides brains again, I’ll ask. 😉
Cool, thanks!
Great update. Thanks for taking the time to call them and post this!
Haha sorry I wasn’t trying to be a brat thank you for everything you do just that drives me crazier than anything 🙂
What about the mutant rabbit?! Lol
woo hoo! I was thinking I wouldn’t get the island as I was kept off for more than 2 days due to glitches after phase 2 started and may not have made enough bells by event end.
Had to call a while ago for Zutroy. The person I spoke to was very helpful and resolved the issue. If you have a problem don’t hesitate to call. That’s why they are there
This is an awesome update clarification. Bunny, as always THANK YOU SO MUCH for your hard work on our behalf!
I’ve fortunately been mostly glitch free in this game but really need the catch up time afforded by the extension, so I’m a happy Tapper today.
While I DO appreciate the extra week of Xmas Quest play
(currently @ 20200 Elf Bells and should have enough to
reach final Phase II Prize in 4 Days), EA knows there are
problems in Tapped Out!
Tappers shouldn’t have to email, log into a Forum, wait
on a phone, etc (just give Tappers a huge donut stack
with a “we’re sorry” & make needed improvements to
the game app before Neighboreenos disappear)!
What’s their number so I can call EA? I have actually gotten yep donuts by tapping on handshakes in my town that dissapeared…
Follow the links to initiate a call from their site. They call you.
I’ve noticed that most of the time if i have a fuse ready to be tapped and a hand shake, the hand shake will automatically auto tap first thing upon me entering my town. Seems like a work arpund EA is trying… nonetheless it has failed me twice, and I’ve lost 6 cannon shots
If it doesn’t clear automatically (it’s been doing that for me since Part 2 started), try going to KL and coming back — it seems to clear for me when I do this.
I tried this, to, but it doesn’t always seem to work. What I’ve noticed is that if the picture for the cannon countdown is still an hourglass, I am going to lose the shots. However, if it changes to the fuse, I just have to wait for the handshake to clear and then I should be able to fire. ( handshake auto clears as described by etamni ). This is all after sitting on the phone with EA for a while (Spencer was a great rep, btw). Cannon seems to work most of the time now, but still glitches at least once per day. Good that they are giving everyone more time to make up for these frustrations. (On a side note, I was told that cs can’t award holiday currency… I was granted donuts for my repeated troubles, but no bells.)
Is there a way to get more elves? With the extra elves being sent skyward and the shorter cooldown times on the cannon from upgrades, my elf count is horribly low (I am in the low teens at last play). And I still need to do 6 more upgrades so another half hour taking off cooldown and two more elves sent into orbit are in my future. Since I don’t think the next round of captured elves is going to give me enough for a full compliment next time. So this kind of nullifies the updates on the cannon as I will need forgo future uses to restock my supply of elves which slows my advancement on getting the prizes.
You don’t have to shoot it every time or even full shots. I wait. Let them stack. Then when bells are higher payout on level ups…I fire.
Thanks for the update! I had noticed the different countdowns earlier this week, and was getting ready to ask you all about it when I saw this article. Talk about just in time delivery! 😄
I am glad they are extending the deadline for those players that had a lot of lockout issues. However I was looking forward to this event coming to an end. Part 1 was great but part 2 was boring. I did manage to get the island yesterday and will try for more bells to get some donuts. But I hope that they release a new level this week so that the players who are finished have something to do.
nice post
Wow. Fantastic post. I hope EA knows that you, Alyssa and Wookie are the reason that I continue to play and enjoy the game. Thank you!
Although I was ready to move on from this event to something new (since I’ve already won all the prizes and didn’t care whether I got my cannon leveled up more), the one good thing about the extension, I guess, is that I’m finding that I’m able to get to the bonus donut boxes from bell collections about every 3 days or so, which is a LOT faster than I can do that from collecting XP!
My experiences with EA phone support have all been very positive. All of the reports have been friendly and patient and have always credited me with any missing donuts/game items and, sometimes, with a few extra sprinklies for my trouble!
And, remember, a good, pleasant customer is almost always more likely to get get good, pleasant customer service! 😉
Oops – “reps” got autocorrected to “reports.”
As someone who works in customer service and tech support (not for EA, sorry!) I can confirm what Sandra said: a good, pleasant customer is almost always more likely to get good, pleasant customer service!
Remember, the person working in customer service is not the cause of the problem you are having, nor the wait you experienced trying to reach them, and their job is to be your advocate with the company. If you come at them with an angry and demanding tone, they will do the minimum they have to do so as to get you off of their phone. If you are pleasant, they will often do more than the minimum, if they can. This is true of customer service everywhere.
Wahoo! That is great news about the extension!! Thank you so much for your effort & time spent with EA & for posting all the helpful info.
Thanks Bunny for all information. I too am having the glitch with the cannon but it is very random and hard to catch. I go into my town regularly and I don’t see any pattern.
I had the “ELF CANNON HANDSHAKE GLITCH” only a couple of days into the event and lost my 3 shots, at the time I did notice that the handshake was under the fuse icon which seemed odd. It has happened to me twice more since then, both times I have gone to my neighbourhood screen and back to my town again and the handshake is back on then top and it works fine.